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Died On This Date (January 27, 1972) Mahalia Jackson / Gospel Music Icon

Mahalia Jackson
October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972

mahalia-jackson

Mahalia Jackson was a powerful gospel singer who many consider to be the most influential of the genre.  After a childhood that consisted of living in a three-room home with twelve other family members, Jackson moved to Chicago at the age of sixteen.  Two years later, she met Thomas A. Dorsey, the so-called Father of Gospel Music, who helped launch her career.   Over the course of her career, Jackson record upwards of thirty-five albums, and a string of million-selling singles, including “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” her signature song written by Dorsey.  Mahalia Jackson died of diabetes and heart failure at the age of 60.

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Gospels, Spirituals & Hymns - Mahalia Jackson

Died On This Date (January 27, 2010) Shirley Collie Nelson / Country Singer; Former Wife of Willie Nelson

Shirley Collie Nelson (Born Shirley Simpson)
March 16, 1931 – January 27, 2010

Shirley Collie Nelson was a country singer who, over the course of her career, released a handful of hit country singles.  An ambitious kid, she left home at the age of 14 to start a career in radio.  By the late ’50s, Collie Nelson was a regular on the popular television program, Ozark Jubilee.  During the ’60s, Collie Nelson released three hit country singles, “Dime a Dozen,” “Why Baby Why” (with Warren Smith), and “Willingly” (with Willie Nelson).  That duet was actually Nelson’s chart debut.  The two got married in 1963 and divorced in 1971.  Following their divorce, Collie Nelson retired from music.  In 2009, she released her memoirs, Scrapbooks in My Mind: Featuring Shirley and Willie Nelson and Many Others.  On January 27, 2010, Shirley Collie Nelson passed away at the age of 78.



Died On This Date (January 27, 2009) John McCarthy / Singer For Post Mortem

John McCarthy
DOB Unknown – January 27, 2009

John McCarthy at left

John McCarthy was the lead singer and primary songwriter for Boston-based death metal band, Post Mortem.  Formed in March of 1982, Post Mortem were one of death metal’s pioneers.  They called it quits in 1994.  After years battling diabetes and a pancreatic illness, John McCarthy passed away at the age of 40.  Cause of death was not immediately released.



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Died On This Date (January 26, 1948) John A. Lomax / Music Folklorist

John A. Lomax
September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948

John Lomax was a musicologist who is world-renowned for helping preserve American folk songs by venturing into previous parts unknown to make field recordings of the locals.  After completing his higher education, Lomax became a college professor and set out to document folk music across America.  In 1910, his anthology, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads was published.  Songs like “Git Along Little Doggies,” “Home On The Range,” and “The Old Chisholm Trail” were  collected within.  In 1933, Lomax and his 18-year-old son, Alan Lomax, set out across Texas to make field recordings of mostly African-Americans.   What they captured was countless field recordings, prison ballads, and work songs.  They were given unprecedented access to prisoners, and in July of 1934, while at Angola prison, they were approached by inmate, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter to record him singing a song he had written to the Governor pleading for his freedom.   Lomax did just that and personally delivered the recording to the Governor.  Lead Belly was in fact released a short time later, but it had nothing to do with his recording but for his good behavior.  Regardless, thanks to the Lomax recording, Lead Belly went on to have a fairly successful career as the “Singing Convict.”  He is said to have traveled over 16,000 miles, amassing a collection of over 10,000 songs.  John Lomax was 80 when he passed away on January 26, 1948.



Died On This Date (January 25, 1986) Albert Grossman / Legendary Artist Manager

Albert Grossman
May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986

Albert Grossman is best remembered as an artist manager representing, among others, Bob Dylan between 1962 and 1970.  He also co-founded the Newport Folk Festival with George Wein in 1959.  In 1961, Grossman put three folk singers together, Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, otherwise known as Peter, Paul and Mary.  Over the years, Grossman also represented John Lee Hooker, Johnny Average, Ian & Sylvia, Odetta, Janis Joplin, and the Band.  Grossman also built the legendary Bearsville Recording Studio outside of Woodstock, NY and formed Bearsville Records.  Acts like Todd Rundgren, Foghat, NRBQ and Jesse Winchester recorded for the label. On January 25, 1986, Albert Grossman died of a heart attack while flying from the U.S. to London aboard the Concorde.  He was 59 years old.